Monday: Hili dialogue (and Leon lagniappe)

Today is Monday, May 30, 2016, and it’s a holiday in the U.S.: Memorial Day. On this day in 1911, Ray Harroun won the first Indianapolis 500 motor race; as a child in Indianapolis, I used to listen to it on the radio every year, marking down the leader of each lap. Yesterday rookie Alexander Rossi won it—the first rookie winner since 2001—running out of fuel as he crossed the finish line.

Notables born on this day include Mel Blanc (1908), the voice of Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, and many other cartoon characters. Here is his real gravestone, which many of you will understand.

Exactly one year later, Benny Goodman was born.

Notables who died on this day include Joan of Arc (1431, not sure if the calendar is the same as ours), Voltaire (1778), Wilbur Wright (1912), and Rosalyn Yalow (2011). Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili is insouciant:

Regarding calendars, in 1431 the Julian calendar was still in use. The Gregorian was adopted in 1582 by Catholic Europe (1752 by Protestant Britain). Although the Julian calendar was about ten days behind by 1582 (due to how it handled leap years), typically historical dates are treated without correction, so Joan of Arc died on this date. I would imagine it’s only an issue for historians dealing with British and continental history during the period of different calendars, astronomers, and time travellers.

This can be important in transition periods. In this year (being the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death) a few papers reported that Shakespeare and Miguel de Cervantes (“Don Quixote” author) died on the same day.

Not so. In 1616, Spain was already on the Gregorian calendar, while England was still on the older Julian calendar. Both death dates are recorded as April 23, 1616, but Cervantes died 10 days prior to Shakespeare.
(Not to mention several historians believe MdC died on the 22nd.)